Record controlled perforating machine



Feb. 16, 1954 H. A. HENDRICH 2,659,303

RECORD CONTROLLED PERFORATING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HENRY A. HENDRICH Q Ma ATTORNEY Feb. 16, 1954 H. A. HENDRICH RECORD CONTROLLED PERFORATING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 20, 1951 INVENTOR HENRY A.HENDR|CH ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 16, 1954 RECORD CONTROLLED PERFORATIN G 'MACHIN E Henry A. :Hendrioh, Endicott, 3K, assignor to International a .New .Yonk,

Business Machines .Gorporation, Y. a corporation of New York Application June 20, 1951, Serial No. 232,502

(01. ice-n5) 11 Claims.

This :invention relates to a new and useful improuement in machines for punching perforations in the :well known record cards of the typ ior example, containing 180 columns of 11:2 :punchingtpositions wherein tall possible nine hundred and sixty punching positions may :be perforated lat one time. 7

"The main object of this invention is to provide an improved means for setting up the complete :to be punched on :a "record card and .punching "all selected pertora'tions at one time in the record.

An ohjectof theiinvention is to providemeans to prevent restoring of the munch interposers in or all columns, independently of each other. i

Another Obj 8.611.401? the invention :is .to make certain operating parts :of the machine selfrestoring.

A further object of the invention is to 'in- :creasethe speed of operation of present summary and gang punching operations.

Other obj ects :of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and =-claims and illustrated in the accompanying :drawings, which idiSClO-SB, by way .ofexamples ,*the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, "Oi -.appl;ying that principle.

In the drawings:

' Eig. =1zisa section through the punch assembly showing the operating parts in the extreme left position hefore any punch inter-poser is set up.

. Fig. 2 is a frag-mental section through the ,punch assembly showinga portioniof the .operating parts in right hand position after one of the punch :in-terpeser A raised again 'to he relatched.

. Fig. 3 is "a'niag-mental front elevation partly in section ofthe machine.

Fig. 4 is a -fragmenta1 perspective view 'of the punch elements and the associated :set up and diBStQIill-g meclm-nism for one card column.

Fig. 15 is'a-diag-ram showing the cardanalyzing station. I

Fig. 6 .is a timing diagram which can he fol- :lowed to understand the timing of the various operations-of the mechanisms shown herein.

In the present :m-achine, cards containing con- -tr.ol .clesignations are advanced :to an analyzing station which .i-s-pnovidedto sense the cards that control .selection of pouches for -.operation. iIihe-cards maybe advanced to the analyzing station by any suitable means such as through needing devices geared to .a main drive shaft is .of the-machine. so vas .toieed cards intenin the required quantity according to .in-terposers is set up and selection I the punching 7 reading out the the type of punching to be performed. Drive shaft I ll in turn is driven from any suitable source. While control cards are being fed to the analyzing station, the cards to Joe punched are inserted in the die portion of a punch guide :block 82 (Fig. 1). This may be done by conventional stepping as a whole card feeding means or by hand if so-desired.

A row of magnets I is mounted to a frame member '2 of a punching machine as shown in Fig. '1. Each magnet in the :row is associated with a record card column and is disposed in staggered relationship with respect to the magnets on either of its sides in order to accommodate eighty columns.

The preferred embodiment of the card analyzing station is shown diagra-nnnatically in Fig. "5 and provides for the static sensing of a perforated card which is advanced and :clamped to a card bed or plate 741. analyzing brush T6 is provided for each of the nine hundred and sixty positions on the card. Also, readout devices of a commutator arrangement are provided for perforations analyzed to thereby transmit digit-representing impulses. A separate commutator segment '15 is related to each iorush and the twelve brushes in each row are swept by a brush readout -14. The commutator arrangement is such that it is intimately structurally coordinated with the analyzing brushes so as to occupy a minimum of space and is individual to each column to eliminate the possibility of back circuits. This static sensing arrangement is described in detail in the U. S. patent to G. Daly dated June 4, 1950, No. 2,514,031. However, it is not intended that this invention be confined to use with a static sensing arrangement sothat card analyzing mechanisms such as those which involve a card in motion or accumulater readout for preparing a summary card may be used.

The circuits whereby-the'perforated cards may be analyzed at the-reading station are shown in Fig. =5 wherein it will be seen that for column 1 the arrangement of the sensing commutator is shown diagranunatically. Of course, this arrangement is "duplicated for the eighty columns in the reading station. The sensing circuit is from ground, through a .power source PS, circuit breaker contacts CB-fl and LIB-2., thence to wire The wirelii has arespective wire connection Elite the brush on. of the-first column commutator.

' Brush readout 14 makes successive contact with contact points 15 and the circuit will Joe closed through the -;particular brush 7.6 which passes through the card perforation. Each plate 19 which carries the series of analyzing brushes I6 has a wire connection to a respective plug socket such as socket S! in the first column. For the reading station there is a series of eighty plug sockets including SI, S2, S19 and S99, from which plug connections are made to the desired punching orders to effect the setting up of information to be punched corresponding to the perforated data. For this purpose plug connections are provided leading to each magnet I (Fig. l) and the circuit is completed through magnet I, thence back to ground.

The CB-I and 3-2 circuit breaker contacts are timed to close and open at such times as to prevent arcing at the break and make between the brush readout 14 and the contact points I5, so as to prevent damage at this point of contact. The construction and operation of circuit breaker contacts, such as are employed herein, are well known.

In the following description of the punch mechanism and set up means therefor, only one card column will be considered, it being understood that this machine is equipped with identical parts for each of the eighty columns.

Magnet 1 is provided with an armature 3 spring biased in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 and having a depressed portion 3a. A selection interposer 4 is slidably mounted in a frame member 62 and is urged downwardly by the action of a spring 5 which extends between frame member 62 and a flange portion 4a of interposer 6. Flange 4a serves as a seat for spring '5 and also as a protruding surface to coact with thedepression 3a of armature 3. In the normal non-operating position, flange 4a rests in depression 3a thereby maintaining interposer 4 in a latched position and spring 5 is compressed. When magnet I is energized through a circuit, as explained above, armature 3 is moved to the left and selection interposer 4 is released. Spring 5 is then permitted to move interposer 4 downwardly to engage a tooth on a rack 6.

Rack '9 is pivotally suspended from the ends of legs saof bell cranks 9 which in turn are pivotally mounted on lower portion I of a slide assembly which consists of an upper portion or selecting element 8 and lower portion I. Lower portion i normally acts as a support member upon which the selecting element 8 reclines. Legs 9b of hell cranks 9 are pivotally attached to the upper portion 3 of the slide assembly. An operating arm ii is pivotally mounted on a supporting rod I2 which extends between the side frames of the machine as shown in Fig. 3. Operating arm II is provided with a pair of rollers i4 and it which are constantly engaged by cams It and M secured to the main drive shaft I9. Also, operating arm II is bifurcated on the lower end to straddle roller I5 which rides in a groove in the bifurcated end. Attached to roller I5 and extending through both machine side frames is a bar it which is fastened to lower part 1 of the slide assembly. A pair of guide rails 83 and 84 are secured inside both side frames to form a channel in which bar I9 is free to move laterally. (See also, Fig. 3.) When cam I3 rocks operating arm II, bar It moves the slide assembly to the right. It should be understood that an operating arm II and the control mechanism therefor is situated on the outside of both machine side frames and bar I6 extends between the two rollers I5.

The releasing of selection interposer 4 which is forced downwardly by spring 5 to engage a tooth on rack 6, prevents further travel of the rack to the right. However, bar I6 will continue to move to the right carrying the lower portion I of the slide assembly with it. Rack 6 and upper portion 8 of the slide assembly are thus raised by legs 9 swinging about their pivot points on lower portion I. It is this raising and moving to the right of upper portion 8 which causes the selected punch interposer to be set up for the ensuing punching operation as explained hereinafter.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 4, a support frame is provided to carry the punch interposers which are moved into axial alignment with a related punch element for setting up the punch element to effect punching during the punching operation. Cross bars 63 and 64 are firmly mounted between the machine side frames and a'pair of side plates 65 is fastened between the cross bars, one near each side frame. Each side plate 65 has a cut-out central portion for facilitating the mounting of channel members I8 which serve as guides for punch interposers I9. Channel members I8 slide into grooves 20 positioned at intervals on the surface of the cut-out portion and each channel I8 has a series of slots through which pass the punch interposers I9. A row of punch interposers I9 is thus formed for each card column, there being an interposer for each index point position on the card. Each interposer I9 has a lip I9a and a spring 2I which pushes it downwardly. In addition, each interposer I9 is offset with respect to a related punch element 22 and the lower end of each interposer bears on the side of its punch element.

The punch elements 22 are slidably arranged in a common punch guide block '82 and each punch element is provided with a notch 22a, the notches facing each other on alternate pairs of adjacent punch elements. A restoring bar 24 rides within the space formed by the notches 22a and serves as a positive restoring means for the punches. Restoring bars 24 are mounted on a pair of supporting plates 25 which in turn are secured to ram 26. (See Fig. 1.) Restoring bars 24, supporting plates 25, and ram 26 in effect form one integral structure, thereby eliminating the possibility of a jam between them when the machine is operating.

Referring again to Fig. 1, upper portion 8 of the slide assembly has a cam surface 28 which rides below a row of interposers I9. When the raising action of the upper portion 8 starts, interposers I9 are in their normal position which is out of axial alignment with their related punch elements 22. Cam surface 28 engages an extension I9b located at the bottom of the selected interposer I9 thereby causing the interposer to be raised and forced to the right until it is seated in a cut-out portion 221) on the top of the related punch element 22'.

Concurrently with the raising action of the upper portion 8 of the slide assembly, selection interposer 4 is also raised by the upward travel of rack 6. Upper portion 8 raises slightly faster than rack 6, because of the unequal length of legs 9a and 9b of bell crank 9. During this raising action upper portion 8 engages a shoulder 41) on selection interposer4. Consequently selection interposer 4 is disengaged from the tooth on rack 6 and raised a sufficient distance to allow it to relatch on depression 3a of armature 3 which is again spring urged in a clockwise direction upon deenergization of magnet I. It is therefore readi'ly seen that the restoration of the selection interposer 4 is effected while the punch interposers bail $8 is returned by action of springs 41 and restoring bar 50 is also returned by the bail 48 to permit the setting up of one or more punch interposers i9 during the next card cycle.

A feature of this invention is the provision of a means for selectively locking restoring bars 50 to prevent restoring of the punch interposers 19, thereby retaining information in the selected columns for the purpose of repetitive punching of common information in all cards. In Figs. 1 and 4, a lock bar 55 is shown positioned for vertical movement with respect to restoring bar 50. Lock bar 56 has a tapered lower end and is secured to a support rod 5? through spring 58 which urges the lock bar upwardly so that the narrowest portion of the tapered end rests in notch 55b of restoring bar It is readily seen from Fig, 4 that there is sufiicient clearance between the sides of notch 58?) and lock bar 55 in this position to allow horizontal movement of restoring bar 50. The upper portion of lock bar 56 has two depres sions designated 56a and 56b which are adapted to engage a latch ball 58 and when in the inoperative position shown in Figs. 1 and 4 depression 58b is seated on bail 55. Spring 68 fastened to cross rod til continually urges lock bar 56 toward engagement with latch bail lid which is mounted to a handle 6% through a cut-out portion 6| of frame 21. The handle $9 is pivotally mounted outside of side frame 21 at B to provide a manual means for actuating all the lock bars 56 at one time. A similar arrangement is provided outside the other machine side frame, thereby allowing manual operation of lock bars 56 from both sides of the machine. Rods 51 and E! extend between and are supported by the machine side frames.

When lock bar 55 is depressed, depression 55a is engaged by bail as which holds it in the down position. The thick portion of the lock bar taper is then situated in the notch Eilb of restoring bar 59 leaving no clearance between the lock bar and restoring bar for horizontal movement of restoring bar 58. It is thus seen that restoring bar 53 is held firmly by lock bar and its movement to the left, under pressure of pawl 53 when bar 16 nears the completion of its return stroke, is thereby prevented. It is readily seen that restoring bar 52 cannot then unseat any interposer H] which has been previously set up. The lock bars 56 can be depressed individually manually, thereby allowing selective depressing of the lock bars in only those columns in which repetitive punching of information i desired.

In the case where repetitive punching of information is to be done in all the columns of all the cards, handle '59 is manually rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. l and latch bail 53 moves downwardly. The downward movement of latch bail 59 causes all lock bars 55 to be pushed downwardly, into the locking position described in the preceding paragraph.

It should be understood that the scope of this invention is not limited to the manual means shown in the drawings for operating the lock bars 55. Any suitable means may be employed for operating this mechanism which gives. the desired result. i

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and change in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the inven- 8 tion. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a punching machine, a row of punches, a row of interposers, one interposer for each punch, each having a normal ineffective position and movable to an active position for operating the selected punch, a slide assembly including a selecting element and a support member upon which said element reclines, means for moving said assembly along said row of interposers with a continuous movement, with respect to any selected interposer, selectively effective means for causing said element to leave its reclining position on said support member and engage any of said interposers during said continuous movement to move the same to its active position, and means for thereafter causing the selected interposer to operate its related punch.

2. In a punching machine, a row of punches, a ram extending across said row of punches, a row of interposers, one for each punch, located between the ram and said punches, normally out of axial alignment with the punches and movable into axial interposing alignment, movement of the ram toward the punches causing activation of the same through aligned interposers, a slide assembly including a selecting element and a support member upon which said element reclines, means for moving said assembly along said row of interposers with a continuous movement, with respect to any selected interposer, selectively effective means operative as the element is adjacent any interposer for causing said element to leave its reclining position on said support member and shift the interposer into axial alignment with its related punch, and means for thereafter moving the ramto operate the selected interposer and punch.

3. The machine set forth in claim 2 wherein control means is provided to cause repeated operation of said selectively effective means, during a single movement of the selecting element across the row of interposers to align a plurality of interposers in a column and thereby operate a plurality of punches upon movement of the ram.

4. In a punching machine, a plurality of rows of punches, a row of settable interposers for each row of punches, a plurality of slide assemblies, one for each row of interposers, each slide assembly including a selecting element and a support member upon which said element reclines, means for concurrently moving said assemblies with a continuous movement, as regards any selected interposer, each across its related row of interposers, selecting means effective during said continuous movement for causing each element to leave its reclining position on said support member and engage any of said interposers during said continuous movement to effect a setting of any interposer in its related row while the element is in motion across the row, and means for thereafter actuating the punches through the set interposers.

5. In a cyclically operable punching machine, a row of punches, a row of related interposers settable to select punches for operation, a slide assembly including a selecting element and a support member upon which said element reclines, means for moving said assembly across the row of interposers with a continuous movement, as regards any selected interposers, to arrive at'successive interposers at predetermined time intervals during a cycle of operation, selecting means effective during any of said timed intervals for causing said element to leave its reclining position on said support member and engage the interposer adjacent thereto at such times thereby causing said interposer to be set, and means for actuating the punches through said set interposers within said cycle of operation.

6. In a punching machine having a row of punches and a corresponding row of interposers, settable to render the related punches effective, the combination therewith of a setting mechanism for said row of interposers including a slide assembly comprising aselecting element and a support member upon which said element reclines, means for moving said assembly along the row of interposers with a continuous movement, as regards any selected interposer, and in a straight path, and means effective when the slide assembly is in line with any interposer for projecting said element out of its straight line path into engagement with the interposer to set' the same, said means causing the element to return to its straight line path before it reaches the next succeeding interposer.

'7. The invention set forth in claim 6 in which control means is provided to cause repeated projection of the element out of its straight line path to effect setting of a plurality of interposers, in a column, in a single transit along the row of interposers.

8. In a punching machine, a plurality of rows of punches, a row of settable interposers for each row of punches, a plurality of slide assemblies, one for each row of interposers, each slide assembly including a selecting element and a support member upon which said element re-' clines, means for concurrently moving said slide assemblies with a continuous movement, as regards any selected punch-interposer, each across its related row of interposers, selecting means effective during said continuous movement, as regards any selected interposer for causing each element to leave its reclining position on said support member and engage any of said interposers during said continuous movement to effect a setting of any interposer in its related row while the element is in motion across the row, means for thereafter actuating the punches through the set interposers, means effective after actuation of the punches for restoring the interposers in each row, and means for selectively locking said restoring means to prevent the restoration of the set interposers in the selected row.

9. In a punching machine, a row of punches, a row of interposers, one for each punch, each having a normal ineffective position and movable to an active position for operating the selected punch, a slide assembly comprising a selecting element, a rack and a support member, said element and rack being interconnected and pivotally mounted to said support member at common pivot points, means for moving said assembly along said row of interposers with a continuous movement, as regards any selected interposer, a member selectively operable to engage said rack, thereby causing said element to move outwardly and away from said support member and engage any of said interposers during said continuous movement to move the same to its active position, and means for thereafter causing the selected interposer to operate its related punch.

10. In a punching machine, a row of punches, a row of interposers, one for each punch, each having a normal ineffective position and movable to an active position for operating the selected punch, a slide assembly comprising a selecting element, a rack, a support member and a pair of hell cranks interconnecting said element and rack, said bell cranks being pivotally connected to said support member, means for moving said assembly along said row of interposers with a continuous movement, as regards any selected interposer, a selection interposer selectively operable to engage said rack and effect rotation of said bell cranks, thereby causing said element to move outwardly and away from said support member and engage any of said interposers during said continuous movement to move the same to its active position, and means for thereafter causing the selected interposer to operate its related punch.

11. The machine as set forth in claim 10, in which spring means is provided to extend between said element and the support member to positively restore said element after engagement with any of the interposers in a row.

HENRY A. HENDRICH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,245,500 Peirce NOV. 6, 1917 1,732,982 Neville Oct. 22, 1929 1,883,984 Lasker Oct. 25, 1932 1,944,671 Schaaif Jan. 23, 1934 1,985,101 Lasker Dec. 18, 1934 2,168,763 Daly Aug. 8, 1939 

